Genetic Algorithm project ideas?

[monsterbasher]

Hi, i'm currently trying to hatch a innovative and original idea to potentially enter at the ISEF. Looking around the field of computer science/engineering, the field of AI and Genetic Algorithms caught my eye. Since I have little to no prerequisite knowledge on AI(besides intermediate knoweldge in programming), could anyone give me pointers on where to start researching and what a good practical application would be for it, particularly in the Physics area?

[BenG]

Hi Monsterbasher

Cool topic idea! Sorry it looks like none of the mentors has been able to answer your question (at least not so far....). In a situation like that, what I would recommend is to look at research ongoing in academic departments bioinformatics, computational biology, biophysics, and physics departments, using genetic algorithms or related methods. E.g., here are some examples since 2013 from google scholar:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_yl ... as_sdt=0,5

And here is a paper that describes a genetic algorithm package in R, a commonly used open source statistical software:
http://www.jstatsoft.org/v53/i04/paper

And here are papers that cite the above methods paper:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?oe=ut ... 1995843124

Wish I could help more, but I don't have experience in genetic algorithm's, nor am I a physicist...
Best
BenG

[hhemken]

Hi Monsterbasher,

Here are some hints for python. You can change the link to use your favorite programming language. I would recommend Python if you are indifferent about that.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=py ... hm+example

[islamfaisal]

Hi,

Two years ago, the distinguished mentors here helped me with a project involving genetic algorithms. Therefore, it's time to pass on knowledge. GAs are very powerful for search and optimization problems. So, an application in physics would be something like searching for an optimal solution among candidate solution or solve an optimization problem.

First of all, you should decide what you would like to do. Are you interested more in doing physics or GAs? If your interest is in GAs, learn them immediately. If you are thinking of doing a research project in physics using GAs, you need to find an idea. If I were you, I would search Google Scholar for things like "physics optimization genetic algorithms". See what they are doing.

To get insight about GAs, Skim over Wikipedia. Then, I suggest you read An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms by Melanie Mitchell (Not all if you do not have time, but to get acquainted). Then, it is time to get hands-on experience. Choose a library that implements GAs (depends on your language) and try your "Hello, world!" GA application. You may optimize the sine function, find the minimum of a quadratic function,... etc.

If you need any questions, if you have decided on an idea and need help, please let me know.

Thanks and best of luck,
Islam

[BenG]

Islam

Thank you for your message. It is very kind of you to follow up and offer these suggestions about genetic algorithms and physics based on your experience - it sounds like you have learned a lot and have proceeded in a rewarding intellectual direction.

Best wishes
Ben